Twenty years ago, nobody knew what Quidditch was. "Hogwarts" sounded like more like a disease than a magical place. And most of us probably didn't know how to spell - much less pronounce - the name Hermione.

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Then, on June 26, 1997, Harry Potter entered the world.

The first book in J.K. Rowling's series of record-breaking bestsellers, "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone," was introduced in Britain first. It wasn't published in the United States (as "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone") until 1998 - but by then, Harry Potter was a bona fide international hit.

Today, we know all about the Sorting Hat and Slytherin, Dumbledore and Dementors. But back then, the wizarding world needed some explanation. Here's a look at how early book reviewers tried to describe the richness of Rowling's imagined world. It's a glimpse back at the world before Harry:

"... Harry is a legend in the witch world for having survived an attack by the evil sorcerer Voldemort, who killed his parents and left Harry with a lightning-shaped scar on his forehead. And so the fun begins, with Harry going off to boarding school like a typical English kid - only his supplies include a message-carrying owl and a magic wand."

"This is a world where some people know from birth that they are wizards, and are raised by their sorcerer parents to attend fair old Hogwarts, while others, like Harry -- raised in human or what Rowling calls ''Muggle' families -- don't find out that they have special powers until they receive their acceptance letters.

"The world of wizards exists in comfortable parallel to the Muggle world, visible only to those with powers, happily invisible to everyone else. Thus, the train to Hogwarts leaves from a hidden platform at King's Cross, and the wizard business district is accessible only from a walled courtyard behind a pub."

"Hogwarts is a lot like English boarding school, except that instead of classes in math and grammar, the curriculum features courses in Transfiguration, Herbology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Harry becomes the star player of Quidditch, a sort of mid-air ball game."

"At Hogwarts, Harry throws himself into the school experience, making friends, rooting for his "house," pulling pranks, avoiding studying at all cost. Given that he's a student wizard, he also hatches a dragon, evades the resident poltergeist and learns to ride a broom. He even becomes a star player at Quidditch, a popular game, sort of like soccer played high up in the air on broomsticks."

"The scene in which he thwarts a bully's attempt to unseat him from his broomstick during an exacting game of Quidditch - a cross between lacrosse and hockey, played on land and in the air - will ring bells with the most level-headed of readers."

"Brooms bear model names like the Nimbus Two Thousand; magic hats spew out the truth of a person's character as though gathered from the brain around which they sat; and giants bear strength enough to break down walls as well as hearts soft enough to harken after baby dragons."

"They inhabit a world that most ordinary humans, or 'muggles', cannot see and know nothing of. They can pass in and out of the 'muggle world', but take great care not to be spotted.

They have an enviable amount of freedom, flying around in enchanted cars. There is a notable absence of parents - Harry's were killed by the evil Lord Voldemort (aka He Who Must Not Be Named). Voldemort is equally intent on eliminating Harry."